The Font constructor is extremely slow in Netscape 4.06-4.61 (java.version=1.1.5).
The following applet tests the Font creation speed of your browser.

(YOU CANNOT SEE A JAVA APPLET HERE)

NewFont.java

Test results for Intel P133/Linux:
BrowserFonts per second
Netscape 3.042000
Netscape 4.05450
Netscape 4.0670

This feature may cause animation to slow down noticably in Netscape 4.06 compared to 4.05 or any other previous version.

Workaround: Create fonts in advance, remove all constructors from paint().